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Rick Astley announces new album and massive Manchester gig on UK arena tour

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Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant - 20th June 2023

Rick Astley has announced he’s releasing a new album later this year, and he’s heading out on an arena tour of the UK to celebrate.

It may have been 36 years since the iconic singer-songwriter from Newton-le-Willows first shot to fame with his massively-popular 1987 hit song ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ – but Rick Astley is arguably a more prominent force in popular culture now than he ever has been before.

Over the past couple of years, it seems the 57-year-old has been amassing new fans left, right, and centre, all thanks to on-stage performances with the likes of US rockers Foo Fighters, or beloved Manchester bands Take That or Blossoms, and claiming the strongest run of album chart positions of his entire career.

After having become an unlikely social media sensation since the turn of the 21st century, Rick says he’s been “simply embracing the unending love” from all his enthusiastic supporters.

And now, the popstar is ready to make his fans’ days after announcing a new album and UK tour.

Rick Astley announces new album and massive Manchester gig on UK tour arena tour / Credit: Rick Astley (via Facebook)

Rick’s long-awaited ninth studio album, titled Are We There Yet?, is set to be released out into the world on 6 October 2023, and to give people a taste of what’s to come, the first single off that album, ‘Dippin My Feet’, is out today.

But the new album isn’t all that fans of the Lancashire legend have to look forward to, as Rick says “the road ahead remains open for further exploration”, and so has today revealed details of a major UK headline tour starting later this year and drawing to a close in early 2024.

Rick Astley – UK Tour Dates 2023/24

2023

  • Wednesday 1 November – Royal Albert Hall (London)
  • Thursday 02 November – Royal Albert Hall (London)

2024

  • Thursday 22 February – Motorpoint Arena (Nottingham)
  • Friday 23 February – Utilita Arena (Newcastle)
  • Saturday 24 February – First Direct Arena (Leeds)
  • Monday 26 February – Cardiff International Arena
  • Tuesday 27 February – OVO Hydro (Glasgow)                     
  • Thursday 29 February – Bournemouth International Centre
  • Friday 1 March – Birmingham Resorts World Arena
  • Saturday 2 March – AO Arena (Manchester) 

Two prestigious dates at London’s Royal Albert Hall will kick-off Rick’s UK tour this November, followed by a series of massive arena dates nationwide.

The tour will culminate with a huge homecoming gig at the AO Arena here in Manchester on Saturday 2 March 2024.

Speaking ahead of the release of his new album, Rick said: “The phrase ‘Are We There Yet?’ has multiple meanings. Are we there yet in my musical ambitions? Am I done with my career? Have we arrived? Or are we still travelling?”

He admits the new album and accompanying singles are Americana-influenced.

“It’s definitely not country, but I’ve never twanged a guitar as much as I have in the past couple of months,” Rick continued.

“And there’s a bit more emotion with those guitar parts. I just think spending five months in America has retuned my ear a little bit.”

The legendary singer-songwriter is heading out on a massive UK arena tour / Credit: Supplied

Rick Astley’s ninth studio album ‘Are We There Yet?’ is now available to pre-order here.

Fans who pre-order before 7pm today (20 June), will receive access to a pre-sale for tour tickets – which opens at 9:30am tomorrow (21 June) and will remain live until remaining tickets go on general sale from 9:30am this Friday (23 June).

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You can grab tickets to Rick’s AO Arena gig on Saturday 2 March 2024 here.

Featured Image – Rick Astley (via Facebook)

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Rising pop favourite CMAT announces huge headline show in Manchester

Danny Jones Danny Jones CMAT Manchester gig tickets

Fast-rising alt-pop favourite CMAT has announced a new show here in Manchester, and as she’s pretty much an honorary Manc at this point, you can expect the tickets to be snapped up in no time.

The Irish singer – real name Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson (erm, duh?) – relocated to 0161 as a 17-year-old back in 2013 to pursue her career in music, and it’s fair to say the move turned out to be a positive one.

First arriving with her old duo Bad Sea, it didn’t take the teenager too long to find a following among her Manchester cousins, and soon, CMAT was considered among the best and up-and-coming artists our city had to offer.

In fact, little else has changed in that respect besides the fact that more and more of the country and, indeed, the world knows about her now, so you can guarantee there’ll be plenty of demand for this new headline concert.

Announcing the big gig at O2 Victoria Warehouse on social media this Friday, 22 August, the Dublin-born ‘Dunboyne Diana’ from County Meath by way of Manchester, CMAT is set for multiple Northern shows over the next six or seven months alone.

The show over in Trafford is one of just half a dozen new shows confirmed in support of her upcoming new LP, Euro-Country, which debuts at the end of the month.

Dropping on Friday, 29 August, her third album follows undoubtedly the biggest year of her career yet, having supported the likes of Sam Fender and having played massive festival slots like Glastonbury this summer.

Other gigs include nights at ‘Ally Pally’ in London, Cork, Edinburgh and more. Commenting on social media amid the new additions, CMAT simply wrote: “Come and see me, CMAT, and The Very Sexy CMAT Band, play our BIGGEST SHOWS EVER next year!”

She actually has a healthy run of live performances coming up this autumn, including one at Manchester Academy One on 4 October – though, as we’ve already warned with this latest date, tickets disappeared faster than you could say, ‘I wanna be a cowboy, baby’.

Admittedly, more than half of those shows have already sold out, but that’s why we’re getting an extra show for our trouble.

With new singles ‘Running/Planning’, ‘Take A Sexy Picture Of Me’, ‘The Jamie Oliver Petrol Station’ and even the title track, ‘Euro-Country’, all having already been released since this past March, we’ve already got a decent taste of what’s to come next from Ireland’s finest.

Speaking as long-time listeners ourselves, we can assure you that these songs have gone down as instant hits among the fan base.

Arriving on Thursday, 12 March 2026, you can enjoy the pre-sale window via O2 Priority Access or by pre-ordering her new record, and general admission goes live at 10am next Thursday, 28 August.

You can get ready to grab your tickets HERE.

She’s not the only soulful female singer who’s just booked her biggest Manc date yet either…

Olivia Dean announces HUGE Manchester gig at Co-op Live as part of UK tour

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Featured Images — Raph_PH (via Flickr)/Press shots (supplied)

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Olivia Dean announces HUGE Manchester gig at Co-op Live as part of UK tour

Emily Sergeant Emily Sergeant Olivia Dean

Olivia Dean has announced she’s set to head out on the biggest UK and Europe headline tour of her career next year.

Fresh off-the-back of supporting the North East’s finest, Sam Fender, on his run of big outdoor gigs this summer – including a massive one at Wythenshawe Park this past weekend – Olivia Dean has now announced her very-own headline tour.

And of course she’ll be making a stop off here in Manchester as she heads around the UK.

The tour announcement comes ahead of the release of her sophmore album, The Art of Loving, which is out next month on 26 September, and follows the release of a collection of singles, including the already high-charting ‘Nice To Each Other’.

The 26-year-old singer-songwriter will first head out on a tour of some of the UK’s major cities, before taking on the rest of the continent and visiting cities like Berlin, Paris, and Amsterdam along the way.

From her earliest show in 2017 with a crowd of just 70 people, on to three triumphant sold-out nights at the Hammersmith Apollo, Olivia has been firmly building herself powerful live legacy and is already on her way to carving out a legendary path.

On release, the multi BRIT Award nominee’s debut album Messy received widespread critical acclaim and cemented her status as one of the most compelling voices across neo-soul and pop.

Olivia Dean
Olivia Dean announces HUGE Manchester gig at Co-op Live as part of UK tour / Credit: Jack Davison (Publicity Picture) | The Manc Group

While still relatively early on in her career, Olivia has already earned comparisons to the greats, and 2025 sees her ready to ‘scale up’ and ‘conquer’.

Olivia will kick off her tour next year in April, and will be taking to the stage of Manchester’s newest live entertainment arena, Co-op Live, on Saturday 25 April 2026, following a trip to Glasgow and before two huge gigs at London’s OVO Hydro Arena.

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Tickets go on pre-sale at 10am next Wednesday 27 August for Co-op Members, and the general sale will follow on Friday 29 August, again at 10am – with tickets available here.

You can also re-order the album for early access to tickets here.

Featured Image – Gwen Trannoy (Publicity Pictures)

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